A disputed site for a potential new park and ride outside Cambridge will not be ruled out of considerations, despite pleas from local campaigners and councillors.

Today (July 26), the executive board of the Greater Cambridge Partnership (formerly City Deal) voted to consider all potential park and ride sites, including the one at Crome Lea, west of Cambridge. Other options being looked at include one at Madingley Mulch, one at Scotland Farm, and one at Bourn Airfield.

Cllr Helen Bradbury, the chairwoman of the A428 local liaison forum (LLF) asked the board to consider removing Crome Lea from their list of options for a new park and ride site, that could form the starting point for a proposed busway heading out from Cambridge towards Cambourne.

At the GCP assembly meeting last week, delegates, including AstraZeneca’s Andy Williams, said they would not be able to support a park and ride at Crome Lea farm and would not commit funds before the completion of a mass transit study.

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Residents have previously aired their fears that the site would be too visible from surrounding villages, and that it would not be ideally situated to address traffic issues in the area to get people out of cars and onto buses.

However, Interim Transport Director Chris Tunstall said Crome Lea is still a “logical” site for a park and ride, and should be considered alongside other options.

He said: “The report seeks to re-look at park and ride sites. Crome Lea has been discussed. In addition, we looked at Scotland Farm. We divorced the transport element from it and looked purely at the environmental.

“We want the sites that are least environmentally intrusive. Crome Lea was in that report. Now we want to bring in all the other sites. It is your (the board’s) decision. You have to have the logical link and at this point Crome Lea is still in and you must consider everything in the round. The logic chain is there. We are recommending that Madingley Crome Lea site is kept in.”

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Cllr Lewis Herbert, former chairman of the executive board, said they should press on with the scheme and should not accept delays at this stage. He said there were other major transport projects in the pipe-line that could be held up if the board kept delaying decisions. He added that, while he did have some concerns about the Crome Lea site, it should still be considered properly alongside the other options.

He said: “If we were to accept the LLF’s recommendation, we would effectively say stop work on everything. Tell the world to go away. By September we hope to have an outline study. We’ve got other considerations like east-west Cambridge, which could include a link from Cambridge to St Neots. There could even be a tunnel under Cambridge.”